Interview

Without a doubt, the decision by the 51% of the UK population who bothered to vote to leave the EU, left many – including myself – angry and bewildered. Almost immediately, naked aggression has come to the fore with an 78% rise in race hate crimes. Hot on its heels, the British government toyed with different ideas and legislation to curtail levels of immigration and to scrutinise the levels of non-British personnel working for British firms. The latest Little Pieces of Gold event run by Suzette Coon deals with the ramifications of Brexit and all the concerns raised above. As you might expect, it makes for unnerving viewing, especially as some of the more satirical pieces when written earlier this year, have borne out to be true in time.

This is my first review for a dance piece of theatre, which ignited my inner (very deep down) prima ballerina! I was thrilled to go to the Blue Elephant Theatre to watch two contemporary dancers, Julie Havelund-Willett and Agnese Lanza perform their self-choreographed show, Inter Pares Project.

Allegedly, when Native American medicine men talk to the sick, they usually ask three questions: When was the last time you sang? When was the last time you danced? When was the last time you told your story? Whether she was conscious of this notion or not, theatremaker Bryony Kimmings has adopted this practise for her latest show, to address and throw light on one of the most pernicious of diseases: cancer.

There's something about plays set in pubs/bar that naturally brings with it a sense of melancholy and a gathering of disparate characters. Tennessee Williams – long known for writing some of the stage's most iconic female characters – like most artists had his successes and works that were less performed during his lifetime. Tramp Theatre Company have taken Confessional, one of Williams' lesser works – and transposed it to a coastal town in Essex. Starring Lizzie Stanton, she plays Leona Dawson, a beautician who has more than her hands full with her Bill (Gavin Brocker), her fella with the roaming eye. If he wasn't enough to contend with, the play takes place on the anniversary of Leona's brother's death, someone she was once very close to. Still wrought at his passing, she plays Tchaikovsky's Serenade Melancholique on the jukebox because it reminds her of his talents as a musician.

Historically, epic tales that span many years and places are told from a male perspective. Yes, there examples to the contrary, but even with stories like Moll Flanders and Anna Karenina, they are examples of a woman not following the path of women in 'polite society'. Tracing the use of oil (as a global means of power from the late 19th - mid-21st century) Carrie Cracknell has artfully brought to life Ella Hickson's pioneering play, which tethers the rise and decline of this fossil fuel with civilisation – and more importantly, a mother's relationship with her daughter.

2016 seems to be the year of Dr Faustus. With Jamie Lloyd’s production over the summer and the RSC’s version which later transferred to the Barbican, I was excited to see Theatrical Niche’s reworking of Marlowe’s dark and gruesome tale. A brave re-working of a traditionally dark and sinful production.

"There are no second acts in American lives." So said F. Scott Fitzgerald. Written by Lillian Hellman, one of the 20th century's most successful female playwrights, The Autumn Garden touches on Fitzgerald's notion of midlife disillusionment – a show replete with a large cast, great female roles and a storyline that also alludes to many of the themes preoccupying the stage in post-War America.

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Abigail Tarttelin is a Hackney-based author. Her third novel Dead Girls will be published by Mantle on 3 May. It follows the award-winning Golden Boy, which told the story of an intersex teenager called Max. Comedian, author and broadcaster Rosie Wilby spoke to her.

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